Key Issues

In 2001 the Moorland Association was able to announce that, during the fifteen years of its existence, the decline in heather moorland had been gradually halted and the net area of heather was at last on the increase in the North of England.

Heather on the increase

Heather and its associated wildlife is still being lost in Wales, the south-west of England and Scotland, and it remains one of the most threatened habitats in Europe. While the threats of afforestation and reclamation for agriculture are now much reduced, the problems of bracken encroachment, local overgrazing and neglect remain.

Moorland Association members have pioneered new techniques of heather re-seeding and regeneration, and will continue to develop other techniques to redress the balance. One outcome of Foot and Mouth disease, and the culling of sheep, has been reduced grazing pressure on the moors and hence an opportunity to restore heather moorland to areas where it has been lost.

Following the Countryside and Rights of Way (CROW) Act 2000 and the completion of mapping of open access land in 2005, the public now have a right of access to privately owned moorland. If not properly managed, this new right has the potential to seriously damage the fragile moorland ecosystem. The Moorland Association was actively involved throughout in the formulation and implementation of the Crow Act in proposing measures that would limit the damage, while still providing visitors with a rewarding experience. The Association is represented on the National Countryside Access Forum and formed, with English Nature, the Moorland Access Advisory Group to advise on nature conservation aspects of open access. An important product of the Group's work has been the Moorland Visitors' Code

The Moorland Association has made, and will continue to make, a strong contribution to the national debate on the future of farming and land use in the uplands. It has supported the principle of transferring EEC subsidy payments from a headage basis, which encouraged over-stocking, to the new Single Farm, Entry Level and Higher Tier schemes, which are area-based and require compliance with nature conservation conditions. The Association will continue to press for these and future agri-environment schemes to deliver strong incentives for the preservation of traditional heather moorland landscapes. It will also continue to show that, over and above any subsidies, a sustainable future for the moorlands in private or public ownership relies substantially on the income from grouse shooting.

The Association is represented on the DEFRA expert group which is drafting and refining the prescription for the uplands section of the Higher Tier Scheme and is an active participant in DEFRA's Uplands Land Managers Panel, which exists to advise Government on the future of agriculture and agricultural support systems for the moorland farmer. The Association believes firmly that an active and healthy agriculture sector is vital for the future management of heather moorland and presses at every opportunity the case for special treatment of this very important group of farmers, often in conjunction with the NFU, the National Sheep Association and similar bodies.

Finally the Moorland Association will continue to show that, over and above any subsidies, a sustainable future for the moorlands in private or public ownership relies substantially on the income from grouse shooting.